We started using this program in term 1 2013. It is an online maths program. I am using it for teaching grade 3. There is a big discussion to be had around how to use it in a school with composite classes, since the program is set up for "straight" year levels, but personally I think this discussion is really about the Australian Curriculum. If I had lots and lots of time I am sure I could create a maths program for a composite class that incorporates all the elements of the Australian Curriculum for each year level, but with Stepping Stones it is much easier to create maths groups at a particular year level, and then differentiate around that basic approach. (at least in my opinion).
Quite a few of the lesson steps sheets go onto a second page by only a few words. It could save a lot of paper and be more practical if a bit of re-formatting was done.
I'm not sure how kids would play the games online if the system only gives you one login and checks to make sure you are only logged in once. For instance, in year 3, module 1, lesson 5 differentiation it says to play "In the 90s" online. This is also an annoying problem when you log on to SS on your staff computer to check or print, then you log on to your IWB to use the system, and when you come back to your staff computer it kicks you off.
It would be nice if we could just access things like worksheets in PDF format because our computer systems often make it quite painful to use the more elaborate system (that I think Origo has put in place to reduce illegal use). Along the same lines, it would be good to just be able to print out a copy of each worksheet from a whole module in one go - then I could review them and decide if I want them all or not, rather than having to click into each lesson one by one. I have tried creating a "Playlist" but this is limited to printing six sheets at a time.
At first glance, the multistrand nature of each module seems a bit disconnected - e.g. module 1 has number lines then litres. Origo has made a decision to have each module include a chunk of the Number Strand, some Geometry, and a little Data. We found this disconcerting at first but it isn't an uncommon way to teach maths and it does avoid doing addition for ten days in a row!
Although the program includes a number of suggestions and resources for differentiation, we don't believe that the tests for the modules include off-level testing, especially to assess students who are working beyond the expected range. In other words, the Stepping Stones tests do not make it easy to identify A students.
When I taught Grade 3 Module 2, I found the worksheets to be a bit too simple for my higher grade 3 students - it would be nice to have a more difficult worksheet so they could enjoy learning the concepts with some slightly more challenging arithmetic. For instance, a way to choose a different worksheet with bigger numbers.
Colour printing issues
The worksheets are available in both colour and B&W versions, but beware, the colour versions have a massive purple background and will eat your toner. I have found a number of minor issues around using worksheets in black and white (and I say again, they are minor and occasional) because sometimes the contrast is a bit hard to make out some of the text. Very occasionally a worksheet will actually require colour, but you may not know that at first - for instance a question that specifically refers to colour of the items and can't really be done in a B&W version. Mostly the sheets with coloured items have a B&W version that labels the items and they work pretty well.
Answer Sheets are all in colour - printing them out is using a lot of colour toner. It would be good to have a B&W answer sheet too - it is a pain to have to manually select the B&W option on the printer each time.
Sometimes the vocabulary is a little unclear, a good example is the use of the word "oblong" in year 3 module 2. There seems to be some debate about this word so it would be useful if Stepping Stones included a glossary to confirm the definition of these words. I think this has been done in the latest release.
One issue I've just come across is that it is difficult to have a relief teacher run a maths group when they don't have a Stepping Stones logon, and probably don't have an IWB logon either. A lot of the time this won't matter, but sometimes there are parts that really need to be put on the IWB to be effective. Not sure what the solution is to this.
Notes from PD session 20/3/2013
Some schools buy extra subscriptions to Fundamentals so that students can play online.
Zupelz good for ESL students? "Not embedded in program" - i.e. not linked to the modules, you need to go and use it
You can also buy Zupelz in a box to play offline, and the box includes a CD version that can theoretically be networked to any number of computers.
Useful to check Australian curriculum sequence to check whether a topic is visited multiple times, if you need to check when students are struggling with a topic - sometimes you can just accept that it will be covered again.
Don't forget the dropdown arrow near the right hand side of the screen - it will show you the sequence of lessons relevant to your topic and even let you go back a year or forward a year if you need to. Remember to hover over the year levels initially to see the sequence of lessons.
Our rep. recommends use of the performance tasks for stronger students - available under the Options tab of Assessment for each module. They are open ended and come with a rubric.
Some minor issues with the program
Quite a few of the lesson steps sheets go onto a second page by only a few words. It could save a lot of paper and be more practical if a bit of re-formatting was done.I'm not sure how kids would play the games online if the system only gives you one login and checks to make sure you are only logged in once. For instance, in year 3, module 1, lesson 5 differentiation it says to play "In the 90s" online. This is also an annoying problem when you log on to SS on your staff computer to check or print, then you log on to your IWB to use the system, and when you come back to your staff computer it kicks you off.
It would be nice if we could just access things like worksheets in PDF format because our computer systems often make it quite painful to use the more elaborate system (that I think Origo has put in place to reduce illegal use). Along the same lines, it would be good to just be able to print out a copy of each worksheet from a whole module in one go - then I could review them and decide if I want them all or not, rather than having to click into each lesson one by one. I have tried creating a "Playlist" but this is limited to printing six sheets at a time.
At first glance, the multistrand nature of each module seems a bit disconnected - e.g. module 1 has number lines then litres. Origo has made a decision to have each module include a chunk of the Number Strand, some Geometry, and a little Data. We found this disconcerting at first but it isn't an uncommon way to teach maths and it does avoid doing addition for ten days in a row!
Although the program includes a number of suggestions and resources for differentiation, we don't believe that the tests for the modules include off-level testing, especially to assess students who are working beyond the expected range. In other words, the Stepping Stones tests do not make it easy to identify A students.
When I taught Grade 3 Module 2, I found the worksheets to be a bit too simple for my higher grade 3 students - it would be nice to have a more difficult worksheet so they could enjoy learning the concepts with some slightly more challenging arithmetic. For instance, a way to choose a different worksheet with bigger numbers.
Colour printing issues
The worksheets are available in both colour and B&W versions, but beware, the colour versions have a massive purple background and will eat your toner. I have found a number of minor issues around using worksheets in black and white (and I say again, they are minor and occasional) because sometimes the contrast is a bit hard to make out some of the text. Very occasionally a worksheet will actually require colour, but you may not know that at first - for instance a question that specifically refers to colour of the items and can't really be done in a B&W version. Mostly the sheets with coloured items have a B&W version that labels the items and they work pretty well.Answer Sheets are all in colour - printing them out is using a lot of colour toner. It would be good to have a B&W answer sheet too - it is a pain to have to manually select the B&W option on the printer each time.
Sometimes the vocabulary is a little unclear, a good example is the use of the word "oblong" in year 3 module 2. There seems to be some debate about this word so it would be useful if Stepping Stones included a glossary to confirm the definition of these words. I think this has been done in the latest release.
One issue I've just come across is that it is difficult to have a relief teacher run a maths group when they don't have a Stepping Stones logon, and probably don't have an IWB logon either. A lot of the time this won't matter, but sometimes there are parts that really need to be put on the IWB to be effective. Not sure what the solution is to this.
Notes from PD session 20/3/2013
Some schools buy extra subscriptions to Fundamentals so that students can play online.
Zupelz good for ESL students? "Not embedded in program" - i.e. not linked to the modules, you need to go and use it
You can also buy Zupelz in a box to play offline, and the box includes a CD version that can theoretically be networked to any number of computers.
Useful to check Australian curriculum sequence to check whether a topic is visited multiple times, if you need to check when students are struggling with a topic - sometimes you can just accept that it will be covered again.
Don't forget the dropdown arrow near the right hand side of the screen - it will show you the sequence of lessons relevant to your topic and even let you go back a year or forward a year if you need to. Remember to hover over the year levels initially to see the sequence of lessons.
Our rep. recommends use of the performance tasks for stronger students - available under the Options tab of Assessment for each module. They are open ended and come with a rubric.